Reservists support Operation Deep Freeze

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WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) --  Reservists from the 445th Airlift Wing here headed to Antarctica on Sept. 26 in a C-141 Starlifter supporting Operation Deep Freeze.

Aircrew members will move passengers and cargo for the National Science Foundation's research facilities in Antarctica. This mission is the second of three phases to re-supply McMurdo Station from late September through mid-November, according to Maj. Steve Griffin, 445th AW Operation Deep Freeze project officer.

The first phase was the initial preparation in August, called Winfly, with the last phase being the re-deployment phase in February, Griffin said.

"We'll be transporting people mostly," Griffin said. "The plane will be deployed for approximately two months, but our crews will rotate out in about three weeks."

He said wing airmen will share mission responsibilities with aircrews assigned to the 452nd Air Mobility Wing from March Air Reserve Station, Calif.

"We'll do three of the five rotations and provide maintenance and operations personnel," said Griffin. "We'll fly on average six to eight times to the ice during each rotation."

Crews will stage out of Christchurch, New Zealand, for deployments to McMurdo. During the winter, McMurdo’s population is about 200 people, while the summer population swells to about 1,200.

Antarctica is the coldest, windiest and driest continent on Earth, according to National Science Foundation experts. Temperatures can drop to 120 degrees below zero in the winter. In the summer, near the coast, temperatures can warm up to the low 30s.

Winds can gust up to 200 mph. Because the area receives only a few inches of precipitation every year, it is considered a desert. (Courtesy of Air Force Materiel Command)